


Not Yet

by TheRealFailWhale



Category: Toshokan Sensou | Library War
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2020-01-01 05:56:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18329984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRealFailWhale/pseuds/TheRealFailWhale
Summary: Iku gets upset when a damaged ILL item comes in, and Doujou's comfort gets interrupted. Takes place after volume 15.





	Not Yet

Iku was angry.

Again.

Doujou’s squad was working in the receiving department today, where they took delivery of Interlibrary Loans and prepared them for the requesting patron. ILLs could come from anywhere in Japan. If the local libraries didn’t have the material the patron wanted, the librarian could seek out the item at another location and ask to borrow it. It really was a wonderful system.

But sometimes it was unreliable.

“What is  _ this _ ?!” Iku shrieked, holding the offending object as far from her as she could with her long arms.

“What’s wrong?” asked Doujou, walking over to her from where he was processing other ILLs.

“ _ Look _ !”

Iku thrust the damaged book into Doujou’s hands, eager to be rid of it. It was a history book about ancient Japanese tea ceremonies and it looked as though someone had actually had tea while consulting the book. Its pages were stained a light brown and were very wavy from the water damage. It was the worst case of damage Iku had seen in her nearly five years with the Library Task Force.

Doujou frowned as he flipped through the item which had caused her to scream. “It is pretty bad,” he admitted. “I’m surprised the other library sent it--hey, watch it!”

Iku had swung a fist in her rage, not trying to hit Doujou but the invisible person who had done this.

“Why would someone do this to a book?!” she demanded, pointing furiously at it. “It shows a complete lack of respect for the library and for books in general! It’s a free book that other people will be reading, what were they thinking letting it get damaged like--”

_ Thump _ .

Doujou’s fist came down on Iku’s head like it always did, trying to shock her out of her anger. It quickly became a gentle stroking hand in her hair.

“Calm down,” he said gently. “I know how ardent you are about protecting books. But this damage has already been done and we don’t know who the patron was since this book isn’t from our library. We’ll send it back to its library so they can delete it, apologize to the patron for the delay, and order it from somewhere else.”

Doujou must have seen that Iku was still upset about the damaged book, because he looked quickly around the receiving department to ensure that Tedzuka and Komaki were not present. His hand moved to cup her cheek and he pulled her face down to his own, placing a sweet kiss on her mouth.

Iku sighed and placed her hands on his upper arms. The kiss, intended to calm Iku, did the exact opposite. Feeling Doujou bring his lips to hers only made her more aware of their new relationship and all that it entailed. She felt her heart beat faster as she pressed herself against him, one of his hands sliding around her waist and the other holding the back of her head. 

There was a sudden noise at the door to the office and she immediately pushed Doujou away from her, a little too forcefully.

“Hey!” he exclaimed as he stumbled against a desk.

“Oh no, Instructor, I’m so sorry!” Iku gasped, darting forward to pull him upright again.

“And what have we interrupted?” a voice asked from the doorway. Komaki was standing there with his arms crossed, an amused expression on his face. Iku saw Tedzuka just behind him, his expression one of mild embarrassment.

“Nothing,” Doujou snapped, shaking off Iku’s hands. “Idiot…” he muttered under his breath, so only she would hear.

Iku couldn’t stop herself from blushing and she quickly averted her face from the other two to hide this fact.

“Here,” said Doujou, shoving the history book back into Iku’s hands. “Get it ready to send back. I’ll write up a note for the other library and the patron.”

“Yes, sir!”

* * *

 

That night, Iku and Doujou were eating in the mess hall together. Komaki had left to have dinner with Marie-chan, and from Tedzuka’s muttered excuses he was meeting Shibasaki for dinner off-base.

There were other librarians and defense force members in the mess, so they were sitting on opposite sides of the table, not touching. For which Iku was both grateful and disappointed.

After Doujou had written the notes about the damaged item, she had taken them to the delivery section and set it aside to be taken back. For the rest of their shift, Komaki had clearly wanted to tease Doujou for what he thought happened before he and Tedzuka returned to the receiving room.

Iku peaked up at Doujou from her rice. He was eating steadily, at a much slower pace than her. Her plate was almost empty, while he still had half of his food left. She paused while chewing, wondering if she should be trying to eat more daintily.

_ Maybe he doesn’t like a girl to eat fast. I can’t remember him teasing me about it before like Shibasaki _ .

He must have noticed her pause, because Doujou snorted at her plate.

“Don’t tell me you suddenly lost your appetite?”

“Uh, no sir!” she said, starting to scarf down food once again. Doujou only chuckled and kept eating.

Since she finished before him, Iku sat and watched him eat. Though they had confessed their feelings for each other several months ago, she still had trouble starting conversations with him, unsure what to talk about. Usually though, she talked about work.

“So will the other library delete that book like you suggested?” she asked.

Doujou swallowed and made a face. “I’m still eating. You should be the one to talk so my food doesn’t get cold.”

Iku flushed and mumbled, “Right, sorry, sir.”

Again Doujou made a face.

“What now?!” Iku asked, flinging herself forward onto the tabletop. One of her hands landed in Doujou’s rice.

“Watch it, idiot!”

Iku pulled herself back up quickly. She had accidentally flicked rice onto Doujou’s shirt, which he was now brushing off looking irritated.

“I’m so sorry!”

Doujou sighed and stood up, collecting his tray. “Come on.”

Hanging her head, Iku picked up her own tray and followed him. She was messing everything up and she wasn’t even sure exactly how. Although flinging rice onto her boyfriend wasn’t a good idea anytime.

They deposited their trays in the slots and left the mess hall. Doujou led them to where their coats were kept and then motioned for Iku to follow him outside.

“Oh no, why are you taking me outside?” she moaned in despair. “I’m sorry I got rice on you, I’ll wash your shirt if you just leave it with me.”

“Hush,” Doujou said, not meeting her eyes as they walked toward the warehouse behind which she’d once hid to cry.

“Sir, if you’re going to punish me you don’t have to lure me outside, this is creepy--” she complained until Doujou interrupted her.

He pushed her back against the wall and kissed her, his hands gripping her hair tightly. Surprised, Iku just stood there for a moment before surrendering to his kiss, putting her arms around him and pulling him closer.

The kiss went on for a while before Doujou broke away, pressing his forehead to her as she gasped for breath.

“You can call me Atsushi when we’re alone,” he whispered, his warm breath swirling across her face.

“Oh,” was all she could say, voice small. “Is that why you looked annoyed earlier? Because I called you ‘sir’?”

Doujou nodded against her head, hands moving down to hold her waist. “You should call me ‘sir’ while working around other people, but I’d...prefer it if you called me Atsushi when no one else is around.”

It was Iku’s turn to nod as she blushed, wondering if he could feel the heat of her cheeks at such close range.

“Well?” he demanded, tone suddenly shifting back to instructor mode.

“Wha--” she started, bewildered at this sudden change before realizing what he wanted. “A-atsushi,” she whispered, still awkward saying his name.

As soon as she said it, Doujou kissed her again, longer this time. They were in a fairly secluded spot, with no light directly around them. Perhaps Iku should’ve guessed this is what Doujou was intending when he walked her outside, but she had been too consumed with worry that she had annoyed him.

Eventually Doujou pulled away, leaving them both panting.

“Iku…” he breathed softly. She opened her eyes to see him staring at her with love in his face.

Smiling shyly, she said again, “Atsushi…” which brought a smile to his face.

“I know it’s odd,” he admitted, stroking her cheek and causing heat to flame within her. “But you hardly ever call me by my name, even when we’re alone. It’s always ‘Instructor’ or ‘sir.’”

“I-I’ll try to call you Atsushi more, si--er,” she trailed off, the awkwardness of that sentence forestalling her.

He merely chuckled and planted another kiss on her lips. “Come on, then. I’ll walk you to the dorms.”

Unwittingly, Iku groaned as Doujou took her hand to lead her away. He looked back, confused.

“I just--” she began, blushing furiously again. “I wish we didn’t have to go to a hotel to spend the night together. I, um, well I like sleeping with you.”

Doujou’s eyebrows raised at her bold-sounding statement. “That’s good to hear.”

Iku might never stop blushing. “No no! I meant that I like...er…”

“I know what you meant, Iku,” he interrupted, raised brows softening into a smile. “I like to sleep with you too,” he added with a wicked glint in his eyes, making her blush again.

To cover her embarrassment, Iku blurted out without thinking, “Could we get a room together on base?”

Iku was surprised to see a flush rise in Doujou’s cheeks. He suddenly tugged her hand, pulling her back onto the sidewalk. 

“Let’s go!” he barked, practically stomping back to the dorms.

She allowed herself to be dragged along as she tried to figure out why he reacted the way he did. When she remembered that only married couples were allowed to live together on base, her cheeks flamed redder than Doujou’s.

“ _ I’m sorry, sir! _ ” she almost shouted, pulling her hand out of Doujou’s with a jerk. He stopped and looked back at her, blush still heating his cheeks. “I wasn’t thinking when I asked--I mean, of course we can’t share a room, that’d--”

He reached out and patted her on the head, which she took to mean he wasn’t upset. He was probably just feeling awkward, like she was.

“Don’t worry about it,” he gently urged. “I know what--” he broke off and looked away from her, hand still resting on her head. “Just don’t worry about it.” Smiling, he took her hand again and they headed back to the dorms.

There were other people around them now, so Iku wasn’t entirely sure that she was hearing correctly, but she thought Doujou muttered, “...yet.”

 


End file.
